Girls’ Squash Shuts Out Andover 4-3: Close Win Marks First E/a Victory for Girls’ Squash Since 2009

This past Saturday, Exeter girls’ varsity squash pulled off a tight win over Phillips Andover Academy with a score of 4-3. After coming off a 7-0 win the prior Wednesday against Brooks, the team had been eager to protect their perfect record, which they have now extended to 7-0.

According to upper Evan Xiang, this was the first time in three years she had seen the varsity team beat Andover. The win was even more impressive considering the team was also lacking one of their star players, upper Serena Cho. As a result, almost every player had to compete a spot up.

Cho commented on the E/a rivalry for squash. She said that due to the intense rivalry, both the varsity and JV games—during the latter Exeter pulled a 7-0 win—had “a great turnout.” Last season, Exeter girls squash lost 1-6 to Andover, but this year they took a convincing win.

The team has been proud of their progress so far this season and ability to keep pulling off wins. Through hard practices and determination, the team has been able to stay dominate. “Overall, I think we’re a pretty strong team, and that was reflected in our results on Saturday,” Xiang remarked.

Lower Gabby Gabel spoke about the team’s endurance during the match against Andover. “Overall, everyone played really well and I think we were all satisfied with how the day went. Many of us had really tough matches, including [senior] Josie Russ, who had a tough five-game match, but ended up pulling it out in the end.”

“We honestly couldn’t have won without the constant cheering and support of all the teammates.”

Gabel said the strength of each individual player came from a strong bond between steadfast teammates. This was one of the main reasons players such as her were able to push through long matches. “I had a pretty rough match too, which started out well, as I won the first two games, but then proceeded to lose the next two games,” she said. “Before my fifth game, some of my teammates gave me a talk which helped pump me up to finally close out the fifth game with a [win].”

The close support among the girls was pervasive and crucial to the outcome. “We honestly couldn’t have won without the constant cheering and support of all the teammates,” Gabel said.

While the girls have maintained their impressive winning streak, they are now humbly focused on improving certain aspects of their game that are still lacking. Looking ahead, the team will have a 1 p.m. home game next Saturday against Noble & Greenough School. The girls hope students will take the opportunity to head out and show their support for the game as the team fights to extend their undefeated record.